The Next Level In Gaming

Every expo the PlusXP team attends has its own set of mysteries. Along with the inevitable collection of long awaited titles and all time classics there is always a certain number of games on the pre-show listings which no one on the team has ever heard of. Seeing as these mystery games often get overlooked in the wave of coverage to follow, this year we decided to give a few of them the coverage they deserve in the form of a little experiment. Before the expo started each member of the team chose a game that they had never heard of before. We then wrote a short summery of what we thought the game was going to be about based on the title alone, before hitting the expo stands to find out what the game was REALLY about. Could you guess why the Swan is unfinished? Work out what Luftrausers are, or predict who or what is in The Cave? Well we are going to try. Wish us luck.

The Unfinished Swan : GuitarGirl24

Prediction:

When Mary-Beth was chosen as the lead dancer in this years performance of Sawn Lake it felt like a dream come true, however when zombies attack the theatre on opening night its not only her routine that is in jeopardy, but her life. Its time to put on your spiked slippers and razor edged tutu, battle through over 20 levels of zombie killing fun, and help to give Mary-Beth the performance of her life.

Reality:

Ok so in hindsight the Unfinished Swan was never really going to be a Zombie apocalypse ballet fusion, but we have to dream right?

Instead the game follows the story of a lonely orphaned boy traveling through a surreal world in search of his lost swan. The swan itself came from an unfinished painting which was his last remaining possession left to him by his mother, and in order to find it he must now journey into a surreal world that was hidden in that place that he simply never saw before. To play the game you must paint your way around your landscape, using black ink on the white canvas of the world around you to discover new areas. At first the game world is quite disorienting and even claustrophobic at times, however as you use your brush to explore a natural curiosity creeps in encouraging the player to brave the seemingly blank canvas and explore the world around them. The use of color is very limited within the game, giving it an artistic feel and more than a small touch of the macabre. During the demo I played I was not yet able to find my swan, but I was left helplessly curious as to what the next dollop of ink might uncover.

The Unfinished Swan is available to download now, exclusively for PS3. Giant Sparrow games.

Luftrausers – Garvaos

Prediction:

After years of research Doctor Van Woskervitch has perfected the most powerful tool in flight technology, flying trousers. His invention the Areo Slacks 3000 code named Luftrausers are the most powerful jet-pack trousers known to man. The only problem is that his laboratory is now being overrun by a race of alien squirrels, who need his technology to take over the world. It’s up to Doctor Van Woskervitch to overthrow the squirrel invasion and save the world once and for all.

Reality:

In reality Luftrausers is a PC game where you control a pixilated World War II plane through yellow war torn skies.

The aim of the game is to destroy all your opponents and the keep boats below you safe. It is a very simple game that reminded me a lot of old school retro space shooters such as Galaxian. There are also a few planes to choose from such as bombers and World War II gunships. Whether more planes were unlock-able as the game progressed I couldn’t tell, but Luftrausers is a fun retro style game which any fan of war gaming and pixel art might enjoy.

Luftrausers is currently in closed beta and is due for release sometime in 2013 from Vlambeer arcade games.

The Cave : RandomMan5000

Prediction:

The Cave is a game and about a guy called Dave who is lost in a cave, and he must collect gold to help him leave.

Reality:

In this puzzle/platform adventure there are seven characters, each of which going into a mysterious cave for different reasons. As you load the game you can select up to three characters to play as at a time. These quirky characters have a uniquely sinister cartoon styling, and range from an explorer, to a knight, a time traveller and even a hillbilly. Each of the seven characters has their own unique abilities and attributes which will help you on your quest to journey deeper into the cave and discover the mysteries hidden within.

The levels are all designed to use each characters abilities and as you go deeper into the cave the puzzles you must complete get harder. Often you must backtrack through the levels in order to collect items, flip the right switches and work out how to use your characters skills to puzzle your way through the tunnels. I really enjoyed playing this game as though it didn’t have any over the top graphics, or anything fancy in the controls, what it did have was imaginative puzzles and a very well thought out story which was great fun to play.

The Cave will be available to download from the 22nd January 2013 for PS3 and XBox 360. Sega and Double fine.